- Joined
- Dec 24, 2015
- Messages
- 161
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- 80
I thought I would share the journey I have been on to rebuild my 79 Piper Arrow IV.
I had owned a Piper Archer II for 2 years now and wanted to move to something a bit faster and a more long-term option for my family. That bought me to a repo’d non-turbo Arrow IV that I managed to negotiate down to a good price (not 10K good). It had around 5K TT and 2100hrs on the engine but did have a GMA 340, 430W and TT31, which was perfect as it would allow me to swap out my avionics in my Archer II (PMA450B, IFD440, AXP340) before selling it.
In December, after a few calls to Don (flyguydon), he flew down with Mark (msires) and gave me the thumbs up to close, they picked it up and took it straight to his place to get the engine overhauled (I plan on doing the interior myself and finally finishing with a new paint job before the end of year).
I will add pictures as I go through the process and will start with the engine breakdown. As always, you never know what you get when you tear down an engine and Don went over all the possible scenarios with me prior to the plane purchase. After teardown, the engine appeared in pretty good shape but did come with a few surprises. What I mean was, the engine that was installed was relatively new, having roller tappets and a counter-balanced crank. Good things to have but boy are they expensive, new tappets cost me $450 each (x8) and I needed a new counter-balance which was also a bit pricey. Overall, it’s all good as the engine itself is worth more than I paid for the plane and will serve me well for many years.
Finally, a few words on working with Don. A month ago, I flew up with my girlfriend to look at the progress and he graciously spent half a day walking us through all the work he has done and doing. I have to say it’s invaluable having someone you can trust doing this, it’s so easy to get taken advantage off but Don has always steered me in the right direction with my Archer and now the Arrow.
Enjoy…
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/197_v4xAxpy4SRtGGMsVSWtKWvO23Jsfb?usp=sharing
Warren
PS: I have to also thank Mark for keeping my plane at his home.
I had owned a Piper Archer II for 2 years now and wanted to move to something a bit faster and a more long-term option for my family. That bought me to a repo’d non-turbo Arrow IV that I managed to negotiate down to a good price (not 10K good). It had around 5K TT and 2100hrs on the engine but did have a GMA 340, 430W and TT31, which was perfect as it would allow me to swap out my avionics in my Archer II (PMA450B, IFD440, AXP340) before selling it.
In December, after a few calls to Don (flyguydon), he flew down with Mark (msires) and gave me the thumbs up to close, they picked it up and took it straight to his place to get the engine overhauled (I plan on doing the interior myself and finally finishing with a new paint job before the end of year).
I will add pictures as I go through the process and will start with the engine breakdown. As always, you never know what you get when you tear down an engine and Don went over all the possible scenarios with me prior to the plane purchase. After teardown, the engine appeared in pretty good shape but did come with a few surprises. What I mean was, the engine that was installed was relatively new, having roller tappets and a counter-balanced crank. Good things to have but boy are they expensive, new tappets cost me $450 each (x8) and I needed a new counter-balance which was also a bit pricey. Overall, it’s all good as the engine itself is worth more than I paid for the plane and will serve me well for many years.
Finally, a few words on working with Don. A month ago, I flew up with my girlfriend to look at the progress and he graciously spent half a day walking us through all the work he has done and doing. I have to say it’s invaluable having someone you can trust doing this, it’s so easy to get taken advantage off but Don has always steered me in the right direction with my Archer and now the Arrow.
Enjoy…
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/197_v4xAxpy4SRtGGMsVSWtKWvO23Jsfb?usp=sharing
Warren
PS: I have to also thank Mark for keeping my plane at his home.
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